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Former professional Gavin Hickie opens his series of columns with a little background.

How it all could have been so different if it were not for a few crucial decisions. A primitive and very violent version of rugby football was played in Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Dartmouth as far back as the 1840’s. The sport grew rapidly within East Coast universities. However, public opinion turned against rugby due to its loose rules and mob like chaos. In 1861 Yale banned the sport for being too violent. A year later, Harvard followed suit. The United States was in the process of establishing it’s own identity at this time also. There was a conscious decision to move away from all things British. So, American Football grew out of rugby and the country’s youth were steered away from the British sport that was rugby….

For the rest of this interview and lots of in depth rugby news, visit www.rugbymag.com